Telangana: Genco fast tracks power projects

Hyderabad: TSGenco has begun feeling the burden of 24x7 uninterrupted power supply to the farming sector since January, as it is having to purchase po-wer at about Rs 15 per unit.

“There is an acute power shortage. We are purchasing power at Rs 10- Rs 15 per unit. Power is not available at Rs 3 or Rs 4, said Mr Prabhakar Rao, Genco chairman and managing director.

“Demand has shot up to 10,818 MW, a 30-per cent increase from September last year. Since last year, we have seen an increase of 2,500 MW demand,” he said.

Mr Prabhakar Rao said though tenders were called for the supply of 1,000 MW, they got bids for 500 MW costing Rs 5 to Rs 10.50 per unit. He said he was was optimistic that once the Yadadri power project (YPP) was commissioned, electricity could be made available at Rs 4.87 paise per unit.

Speaking to reporters, the CMD denied reports that the cost of the Yadadri project would balloon to Rs 80,000 crore. Its cost was Rs 29,965 crore and there could be a maximum cost escalation of up to 10 per cent.

The 5x800 MW Yadadri and 4x270MW Bhadradri projects were time-bound, “Bhadradri stages 1 and 2 will be commissioned by March. After a gap 2 to 3 months, the remaining stages would be completed, Mr Rao said. The Yadadri project would be commissioned on October 16, 2020.

He said the demand from Kaleshwaram stood at 2,500 MW, which would go up to 5,000 MW next year. He said 3,450 MW of solar power would be used to meet this demand.

Mr Rao said of the 2,560 MW committed power supply from Central generating stations, Genco was getting 1,500 MW. From Chhattisgarh, only 350 MW was available due to coal shortage though 1,000 MW was contracted, and 540 MW from SEMB Corporation was not available due to a generator problem.